Industry bodies such as Auspi and COAI have been asking government to allow mobile tower installations on government and defense lands to boost seamless coverage.Romit Guha&Muntazir Abbas | OUR BUREAU | Updated: August 26, 2015, 14:12 IST

Trai had last month suggested an auction starting price that is nearly 10 times that paid by carriers in a 2008.NEW DELHI: India's top two telcos Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India have lauded the government's efforts to facilitate setting up of telecom infrastructure, including towers, which will help reduce call drops in the country.

"We are thankful to Communication Minister asking various government departments and states regarding telecom infrastructure installations, as this will provide a major boost in tackling the problem of call-drop which has become a key concern in the absence of requisite number of towers," Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel ​said in a statement Wednesday.

In a separate emailed statement, Vodafone India CEO Sunil Sood reiterated the telco's commitment to provide the best of telecom services that could help materialize the government's ambitious Digital India initiative.

"We are grateful to the support provided by the telecom department in facilitating the roll out of telecom infrastructure across the country," Sood said. He also hailed Prasad's dialogue with the urban development ministry to allow cell sites deployments on government buildings.

Prasad has sought 'in-principle' approval for allowing operators to set up towers in government buildings and has written to various chief ministers seeking their efforts in the area. At the same time, the minister ​had asked telecom operators to optimize their network and make desirable investments to overcome rampant call drops and ensure service quality in the country.

Tuesday, PM Narendra Modi too directed his officials to take steps to address call drops problem and added that such a voice connectivity issue would not extend to data connectivity in the future.

​"​We would like to thank him for his comments regarding the impact of mobile towers and radio waves, as this will go a long way in clarifying various myths and misconceptions surrounding the issue,​"​ Vittal said in the statement.

Industry bodies such as Auspi and COAI have been asking government to allow mobile tower installations on government and defense lands to boost seamless coverage.